Friday, December 31, 2010

I gave up looking for the 2011 Hot Wheels #66 about a week before Christmas at the local stores. I was at the grocery store a few days ago when I decided to take a look at their rack. Not only did I finally found one, I actually found three of them. However, I only picked up one since they were marked $1.29 as opposed to $0.98 at Wal-Mart's. So I am closing out 2010 with a few pictures of the diecast car.

I am not a big fan of the package showing just the front three-fourths of the Batmobile. Also, I would have liked a Batman logo of some sorts. I almost passed it by but thankfully I read the text on the lower right hand side.

Stanley "Artgerm" Lau did the cover for Image's Fall Out Toy Works #3 (February 2010). The five-part limited series is about an inventor falling in love with his android creation. I would have never picked this up even for the science fiction elements.

There is a trade paperback available for those interested in picking it up:

Thursday, December 30, 2010

The only comic-related swag that I received for Christmas this year were two beanie and shirt combos from Bioworld that features Batman's bat symbol and Superman's S shield. I was surprised by the white sleeves instead of the black sleeves that the DC Comics shirt had that I got in the Christmas Swag 2009.

Kenneth Rocafort and Christina Strain did cover A for Image's CyberForce/Hunter-Killer #4 (January 2010). Rocafort also did the interior pencils and inks. This is part of a five issue mini-series written by Mark Waid that teams up the two groups. The only CyberForce comic that I had before getting this one as part of the TFAW grab bag was CyberForce Universe Sourcebook #1 (August 1994). I have never heard of Hunter-Killer before reading this issue. I need a sourcebook just to keep track of the characters. I do like the cover featuring Samantha Argent.

Yes, the mini-series has been collected in the following trade paperback:

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Celestine, a dragon and a horde of demons adorn cover B of Image's Broken Trinity #3 (November 2008). The artist was Stjepan "nebezial" Sejic and I got this issue from TFAW as a grab bag comic. The avenging angel arrives to battle Witchblade but ends up stabbing Jackie Estacado aka the Darkness with her light sword. There is also some purple guy running around fighting the dragon that turns into a woman.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Andrew Wildman did the B cover for IDW's The Transformers #3 (January 2010). This issue seemed more like a bridge from whatever happened in #2 to the coming action in #4. I never realized how much time those robots spent moping and talking.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

While I enjoy Star Trek, I am not particularly fond of the Cardassians. The cover artist for the IDW's Star Trek: Alien Spotlight: Cardassians was Agustin Padilla, who also did the interior pencils. I thought the story by Andy Schmidt was so so.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Like Grimjack: The Manx Cat, IDW's Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden was originally published online by ComicMix (you can still read the entire series here). I received #3 (December 2009) as part of the TFAW grab bag. The cover and interior art were done by Mike Grell, who also wrote the series. I greatly enjoyed the issue and probably be reading the entire series online soon.

Friday, December 24, 2010

The handful of First's Grimjack issues that I have were obtained by grab bags so it was nice to see an issue of IDW's Grimjack: The Manx Cat #6 (January 2009) in the grab bag mix from TFAW. Timothy Truman returns as the cover and interior artist with John Ostrander returning as writer. Those two co-created the character so it seems natural that they would be back. The six part mini-series were originally published online by ComicMix and can still be viewed here.

The series has also been collected in a trade paperback and can be purchased by following the link below:

Thursday, December 23, 2010

I received two copies of IDW's G.I. Joe: Origins #10 (December 2009) in the grab bag from TFAW but with two different covers. Cover A artist was Tom Feister while cover B artist were James Brown and Andrea Mutti. Unlike the cartoon series, there is blood in this comic series.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Bernie Wrightson did the cover and interior art for IDW's The Ghoul #2 (January 2010). There is even a five page text story as a backup written by Steve Niles, who also wrote the main comic feature. I love this horror comic and was glad that it was one of the grab bag comics from TFAW.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

IDW's Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression #4 (December 2009) is the final issue of the mini-series.The copy I received had cover B done by Tom Waltz. The team battles demons as hell comes to earth. While I enjoyed it, I would have liked to caught the first issue. The back up feature has secretary extraordinaire, Janine in "Working Overtime".

The four part mini-series has been collected in a trade paperback that you can purchase from Amazon:

Monday, December 20, 2010

I received IDW's Doctor Who Classics Seris 2 #13 (December 2009) from TFAW as a grab bag item. The RI (Retailer Incentive) cover was done by Mick Austin and Charlie Kirchoff. This issue features the fifth Doctor, who was portrayed by Peter Davison in the tv series, as he matches wits with frog-like businessman. This is the last issue of the series and two parts of Skywatch-7 is included as a back up feature.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

I received the virgin variant RI cover of Doctor Who #6 (December 2009) from IDW as part of the grab bag from TFAW. Charlie Kirchoff and Matthew Dow Smith did the cover art. The story and artwork was good but it was the final chapter in the "Fugitive" story.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

IDW's Barack Obama: The Road To The White House #1 (June 2009) has a lot of text to read but at least they had black lettering on yellow or white backgrounds. I actually like this better than Barack The Barbarian. There is a second issue but I am just glad to have the first issue.

Friday, December 17, 2010

IDW is almost as bad as Boom when it comes to variant covers. I received Angel: After The Fall #2 (December 2007; RI A sketch cover by Frank Urru), #7 (May 2008; cover A by Rebecca A. Wrigley plus cover B by Nick Filardi and Michael Avon Oeming) and #9 (June 2008; RI A virgin cover by Nick Runge). This series picks up after the events unfolded in the final episode of the Angel tv series so I greatly enjoyed them.

The series has been collected in a series of trade paperbacks including the following:

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Alex Ross did the cover of Project Superpowers: Meet The Bad Guys #3 (September 2009) for Dynamite. He also co-wrote this issue with Joe Casey. Carlos Paul was the penciller, Mike Lily was the inker and Simon Bowland was the letterer. The Mighty Samson fights Dagon in this issue and I greatly enjoyed it.

The four part mini-series has been collected in the following trade paperback:

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Grant Bond did cover B for Dynamite's Legendary Talespinners #1 (February 2010). He also did the interior pencils, inks and colors. Yes, that is Baron Munchausen on the cover surrounded by dark versions of various characters from fairy tales. I loved the set up and would love to read the rest of the mini-series.

The three issue mini-series was collected in the following trade paperback:

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Joel Humberto Herrera did the cover for Barack The Barbarian #4 (October 2009) from Devil's Due Publishing. There are some good pokes at politicians but the best part is the last three pages that I will not spoil here.

The entire four part mini-series has been collected in a trade paperback:

Monday, December 13, 2010

I have never seen all of Monsters, Inc. but I have seen bits and pieces of the Disney/Pixar movie. I was pleasantly surprised when I received a copy of Monsters, Inc.: Laugh Factory #4 (November 2009) as part of the TFAW grab bag. Amy Mebberson was the artist on cover A. I actually enjoyed the issue and would like to get the previous three issues.

Luckily, the complete mini-series has been collected in a trad paperback and would make a great Christmas gift for a comic fan of any age.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse And Friends #299 (December 2009) has a Harry Potter feel to it. In fact, this issue is episode four of the "Wizards of Mickey" storyline. The issue is continued in Wizards of Mickey #1. I received the cover A variant by Magic Eye Studios and Flavio B. Silva.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Yep, I received two copies of The Unknown: The Devil Made Flesh #3 (November 2009) from TFAW but with variant covers. Cover A's artist was Erik Jones while Stephen Downer and Alexander Stojanov did the art on cover B. The four issue mini series is about Catherine, a detective with six months to live, who tries to solve the mystery of what happens after we die. The investigation leads her to a small town in Alabama where only two of the residents actually have souls. The Unknown: The Devil Made Flesh was created and written by Mark Waid.

The entire mini series from Boom has been collected in a trade paperback:

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Three variant covers were printed for Farscape #1 (November 2009) from Boom. I only received cover A by Joe Corroney in the TFAW grab bag. I really liked the exterior and interior art since the characters actually look like their tv counterparts.

I also received cover A and B of Farscape #3 (January 2010). Joe Corroney did the former while Dennis Calero did the latter. Both are extremely cool since I like Chiana just as much as I like Aeryn Sun.

The complete Farscape tv series in now out on DVD and would make a great Christmas present for science fiction fans:

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Parts of Boom's Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? #1 (June 2009) is unreadable due to black text on dark background. I really hate when comics do that. I received cover C with art by Scott Keating (there are four different covers).

I have read the story by Philip K. Dick years ago and greatly enjoyed it. However, I do recommend skipping the comic series and purchase the science fiction classic in paperback form by using the link below:

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

I like the Die Hard movies but I am still on the fence about the comic series from Boom that recounts the early days of McClane. I have only read the two issues that I received in the TFAW grab bag.

I like cover A of Die Hard Year One #4 (November 2009) by Dave Johnson and Joe Jusko. Mark Simpson did the art on cover B and could be the cover of any series. There is a cover C by Joe Jusko that shows more of McClane in his NYPD polic uniform.

Die Hard Year One (December 2009) cover B was done by John Paul Leon. There were also three different covers for this issue. This issue takes place one year later from the events that happened in the first four issues.

Howard Chaykin wrote the series and the two issues that I read were pretty good. Unfortunately, the interior art could be better.

Die Hard Year One has been collected into two trade paperbacks that you can purchase by using the links below:

Monday, December 06, 2010

I have never read an issue of The Anchor until I received the TFAW grab bag. I received not one issue of the series but two (okay, three if you count the variant cover to #4). From what I can gather from reading these two issues is that the white-bearded Clem aka the Anchor is an immortal demon fighter that has lost his memory. He regains fragments each time he eats the heart of a demon. Clem hangs out with a love sick woman named Hofi and McBride, who appears to be is handler.

The artists of The Anchor #4 (January 2010) cover A were Brian Churilla and
Matt Wilson while #4 cover B was done by Phillip "Phil" Hester, Ande J. Parks and Matt Wilson. The team of Churilla and Wilson also did the interior artwork. In this issue Clem battles The Breeder, who turns out to be Asmodeus.

Brian Churilla and Matt Wilson were also the artists on The Anchor #5 (February 2010) cover A. This issue starts with Clem battling a baby demon that was using a volcano as a womb. His flesh is burned off during the battle but quickly starts to regenerate. Satan seems to be behind all of the Anchor's misery and actually wants him to remember everything.

Pretty weird but I like weird so I liked the two issues that I received and would like to read more

Sunday, December 05, 2010

I received two different versions of Logan's Run: Last Day #1 (January 2010) published by Bluewater in the grab bag from TFAW. Cover A artist was Daniel Gete while Matt Bellisle did the art for Cover B. There were actually four different covers produced for this issue. I like this issue for the flashback of Logan-6 as a kid training to be a deep sleep operative. The final scene is so cool that I want to get the rest of the series.

Saturday, December 04, 2010

I received Roger Corman's Black Scorpion #2A and #2B (December 2009) as part of TFAW independent comic grab bag. Azim Akberali did both covers and I like both. I did receive a duplicate of #2B if anyone wants a copy.

Paul J. Salamoff was the writer, Daniel Cuchacovich did penicils, Erick Marquez was the colorist, Wilson Ramos, Jr. did lettering and Darren G. Davis did the graphics. Here are the first two pages:

Friday, December 03, 2010

The package from Things From Another World (TFAW) arrived this morning filled with one hundred grab bag comics. Fifty are supposed to be from Dark Horse and the other fifty are from independent comic companies. I have not separated them yet to be sure.

Holiday greetings from Batman and Robin:

Notice that the top comic is The Unknown #3 from Boom!

I quickly went though them and there are some cool titles. There were also several duplicates of a few comics and I am not just talking about one or two copies. I will be posting about the grab bag comics in the future.